smoking in cars ban?

Will it actually work? I can't see that many people smoke around children anyway and those that do will not stop due to legislation anyway, then if people haven't been policed about mobile phones it will be even harder with smoking.

I am not a smoker and don't think people should allow smoking around children but can't see this having any effect

The other day i saw a mum get in her car and light up - windows shut and 4 kids inside. It should definitely be banned - as even if it only slightly increases the chances of people like that stopping then it will be worth it.

Excellent idea. My father smoked in the car when I was a child and I hated it as there was no escape from the smoke. I know that some people will probably disregard the law if it is brought into force but anything that hammers home that it is just not acceptable to smoke around children would be a good thing.

I was given a warning (rightly so) for driving whilst eating an apple. I did remark to the policeman that dropping an apple in my lap would unlikely cause me much of an issue, where as a lit cigarette...........

Do you know what? It's a smelly habit, but I am not sure for most children it has that big an impact on their health, tbh. I would like to see some really hard statistics on the actual risk, rather than the wishy washy public health prattle we are getting at the moment. Hope David Spiegelhalter says something on the topic. He is cool.

BoffinMum hard statistics on the effect of smoking on children's health.

This is from the National Center for Health Statistics (USA)

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has harmful effects on children's respiratory health and has been linked to higher risk of middle ear infections, bronchitis and pneumonia, coughing and wheezing, worse lung function, and asthma development (1). Children with asthma whose parents smoke have more severe symptoms and more frequent exacerbations

This is research conducted by Imperial College London

The introduction of smoke-free legislation in England was immediately followed by a fall in the number of children admitted to hospital with asthma symptoms, a new study has found.

NHS statistics analysed by researchers at Imperial College London show a 12.3 per cent fall in admissions for childhood asthma in the first year after the law on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces came into effect in July 2007. The researchers found that asthma admissions continued to fall in subsequent years, suggesting that the benefits of the legislation were sustained over time.

The effect was equivalent to 6,802 fewer hospital admissions in the first three years of the legislation, according to the analysis published today in the journal Pediatrics.

sparkiling i dont believe passive smoking causes any real harm, yes it may be smelly but thats as bad as it gets. if the window is open i dont have a problem with people smoking in their own cars with children in it.